Whilst sitting in on an official demo of Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts at E3, one narrated and directed by Microsoft Games Studios' Ken Lobb and Rare's Mark Bettridge, I found it impossible not to be impressed by the platformer. The sheer number of parts, contraptions, and options, combined with what appeared to be a straightforward interface — a challenge when building something in 3D — made it clear that there's lots to do in the third proper Banjo Kazooie game.

The thing that appealed to me most was the game's Leaderboards implementation. It essentially lets players download replays of the game's challenges, letting other players improve upon, for example, the ideal way of moving a giant ice cube man up a slippery slope. That feature reminded me of my obsessive Diddy Kong Racing days, in which I was racing against ghost data and fighting the Nintendo 64 analog controller to shave seconds off my time.

That kind of community driven perfection, letting others watch your best time at scoring goals on an oversized soccer pitch, with the most creative vehicle implementation possible, may be Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolt's most appealing feature.

Microsoft Denies Motion Control Revealed Via Banjo Kazooie Preview

Last night, in a preview video for Rare's Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, clip commentator Ken Lobb dropped some knowledge on controller twisting in the Xbox 360 platformer. That lead to some speculation that the Microsoft Games Studio creative director had just confirmed motion control, in a roundabout way. Not so, says Microsoft, who tells us there is no truth to the speculation. See?

“There is no truth to this speculation," reads an official statement that comments on rumor and speculation. "Ken’s comment is in reference to rotating the left analog stick while hitting the X-button to move different things in the game.”

Aw, you're no fun, official statement. Why'd you have to come in to our post and spoil the speculative fun? Regardless of this denial, we're still sticking to our multiple E3 predictions based on an X-waggle reveal. Bring on the accelerometer! [Edit: I mean X-elerometer!]

Does This Banjo Kazooie Video Confirm An Xbox 360 Motion Controller?

Did Ken Lobb, creative director at Microsoft Game Studios, just confirm motion control will be a factor in the newest Banjo Kazooie game? We're saying it's a "definite maybe." Others are saying yes, based on Lobb's comments in a Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts walk-through with developer commentary. What comments?

Specifically, Ken says "The primary function that Kazooie has in the game is she carries this wrench and the wrench is used for many different things. One of the things that the wrench is used for is to turn these devices. So you basically grab with the wrench and then you twist the controller around and it'll move different things in the game."

While we're mostly positive that Microsoft will be spilling the official beans on X-waggle come next week, we're not going to take Ken's word as motion controlled gospel. He could have merely misspoke, even if it's a rumor we've heard before. If you want to be the judge, make it to the 4 minute mark on the IGN video linked below.

Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts Xbox 360 Developer Commentary - Showdown Town Walkthrough [IGN - thanks, William!]

Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts Hands-On Impressions

It has been ten years and two console generations since the team of Banjo and Kazooie stormed the Nintendo 64 to rave reviews and not much has changed, at least not much for platformers, or so say Rare.

"We felt the platform genre hasn't really evolved much," said one of the developers showing off Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts to the press yesterday. "Up until recently things really haven't evolved much."

The team decided they wanted to tweak the formula, adding "fun physics" to the franchise and making it more about vehicles than traditional platforming. The change seems to be turning the franchise into what appears to be a sort of platformer on wheels that is centered more around challenges than a linear storyline.

I say appears to be because we were only shown a small part of one level of one of the game's five worlds. In it Banjo and Kazooie have to complete a short challenge for one of the game's characters. The challenge can be completed on foot, but it's not really meant to be. To complete it quickly you have to use a vehicle. It's the customization of these vehicles that seem to be the heart of the game.

Speaking as part of a long, long interview with CVG, Rare design head Gregg Mayles talks in-depth about the freshly-announced Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. First revelation? Banjo's let himself go - "slobbing out," as Mayles says, while poor Grunty starts off as only a head until he hooks himself up with a mechanical body, all the better to help Banjo bounce back from this apparent midlife crisis.

Mayles also is anxious about how Banjo loyalists might receive this overhauled installment, hoping that those surprised by the new flavor will give it a chance. All in all, Mayles says the Rare team is hoping the third installment will act as something of a franchise reboot:

We've kind of taken a step back from that and tried to make it a simpler, cleaner approach, obviously with this new mechanic in place. I guess we're all hoping for a clean start, that's what I think it'll do. It's kind of, 'There's your old Banjo games, let's put those in the past, you can remember how good those were, this is Banjo for the future'.

Mayles also suggests that comparisons to Super Mario Galaxy will be unavoidable:

Banjo-Kazooie: Hot New Bird On Bear Action

Shane Kim: Rare Hasn't Realized Their Potential on the 360

During my dinner with Shane Kim and Kudo Tsunoda I started talking with Kim about Rare's relatively checkered history with Microsoft.

In the late 90s Rare established themselves as a top-tier studio, producing such classics as GoldenEye and Donkey Kong Country for Nintendo. But in 2002, Microsoft bought up the company and prepared to have the studio start work on some of the marquee titles for their upcoming Xbox 360.

I told Kim that back before the Xbox 360 launched I had heard that Rare's Perfect Dark Zero was meant to be the platform's launch title, the reason gamers would take notice of the 360 and decide to buy into the new platform.

When the game finally hit, with the launch of the 360 and Rare's other title Kameo, it was met with a mixed reception, certainly not the sort that Microsoft had bet on.

Is Rare, I asked Kim, a developer that better suited to the audience and platforms of Nintendo gaming?

It's very official, as Microsoft has announced the existence of Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, Rare's fuzzy follow-up for the Xbox 360. Lucky Banjo fan that you are, you've been subjected to leak after leak, giving you a glimpse of the new-gen bear and bird adventure all weekend. Out of obligation, though, we've put together a handy gallery of the available Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts screen shots, which you can find below.

A handy fact sheet, courtesy of Microsoft, explains how the Lord of Games has crafted a ridiculous excuse to pit Banjo and Gruntilda against eachother in a battle that can only be settled by vehicle creation and customization. Seriously! You'll find it after the jump!

Microsoft Shows Off Fall Lineup In San Fran

Microsoft is showing off their biggest titles at the Microsoft Game Studios showcase event in San Francisco today, and you're invited! Okay, so you aren't technically invited, but we'll be bringing you the latest news, screens, and videos from the biggest Xbox 360 titles of the year as the day progresses.

What are they showing? Ninja Gaiden II, Gears of War 2, Fable 2, Too Human, and several games without 2 or Too in them, including Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise, and Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode One.

Crecente will be there all day for the event, so you can expect all sorts of fun stuff from him later in the day. While we busy ourselves setting up galleries and processing videos for your enjoyment, feel free to read through the official press release, after the jump.

Banjo Kazooie 3 Named, Detailed

New details on the game formerly known as Banjo Kazooie 3 and Banjo Threeie have emerged courtesy of Game Informer and GameReactor, both via message board NeoGAF. Rare's latest Xbox 360 venture, Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts, won't strictly follow the traditional gameplay of the previous two colorful platformers, but will have a heavy focus on vehicles and vehicle building. According to alleged details from the latest Game Informer mag—the same issue posted about earlier—the game will feature some 1600 vehicle parts and weapons with which one can customize their ride, from bikes to karts to planes.

A poster, who appears to be from Danish gaming site GameReactor writes that vehicle creation is similar to building with LEGO blocks, that players can edit their creations at any point. The poster explains how a truck creation was incapable of delivering the required amount of coconuts to finish a level, but that a helicopter more suited to coconut carrying was. In other words, if coconut schlepping is your thing, Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts will fit the bill.

New games at MS Gamer's Day: Banjo 3 and Vina Pinata 2 pics leaked [NeoGAF]

Following an eruption of Banjo Kazooie 3 screenshots hemorrhaging early and messily all over the internet's white shoes, a Rare spokesperson is urging game fans not to pre-judge before the full details come out.

"Reading some of the comments, it's nice to see that people think the game is quite pretty, but its definitely not a racer, which is what some people think it is," community liaison George Kelion told Kotaku. "You're better off waiting until tomorrow, when we reveal what is for us the most spectacular feature of the game, which is the gameplay mechanic."

"There's some really good stuff coming through the pipeline... try not to jump to any conclusions, because the surprise is still yet to be revealed."

Nothing gets speculation, guessing and jumping-to-conclusions going like the promise of a surprise!

Lots of sites are posting these, I saw them on British Gaming Blog first. Here's two new screenshots from Banjo Kazooie. This follows rumors that the Xbox's "Newton" Wiimote clone is being built specifically for this title's gameplay.

Looks like some serious Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang action in the first shot. Another after the jump. Click on them for full size.

Rumor: Microsoft May Debut New Xbox 360 Motion Controller Next Week

Rumors about Microsoft entering the waggle market with a specialized, Wii Remote concept swiping controller have been popping up for the better part of a year. Talk of a partnership with Gyration, speculation that Bungie had quashed a proposal for a motion controller tied to Halo 3 and murmurs that Rare was now tasked with leading the waggle wand brigade have been bubbling up frequently. Microsoft and Gyration have both denied or brushed off the rumors, but we've just heard it pop up again.

According to sources that will go unnamed, Microsoft may be showing its Xbox 360 motion controller as early as next week to press, a controller geared specifically for Banjo Kazooie 3 gameplay. In fact, we've heard that select members of the press have already seen the controller—in use on the next Banjo Kazooie title—in action.

One Of These Banjo Threeie Plots Is Real

Credit to Rare for taking advantage of April Fool's Day to reveal the storyline behind the third proper console entry in the Banjo Kazooie series. What will the googly-eyed bear and bird be motivated by in "Threeie"? The answer lies within one of five potential plot lines. Candidates one and four scream bogus, but I might just be willing to end my Banjo strike if I can get my hand's on Grunty's T.I.T.

If I remember correctly, the literary masterpiece that was Banjo Tooie involved someone stealing some candy or jewels or shards of some cosmic thing that required our heroes to walk near some grass. It's been a while, though and my recollection of the complex narrative may be shoddy. Walk on for the list.

Banjo-Kazooie 3 On Track For Christmas

While the teaser site hasn't provided much information regarding Rare's next entry in the Banjo-Kazooieverse for the Xbox 360, Rare community manager George Kelion has proved a veritable wellspring of information. Posting on the NeoGAF forum topic regarding the teaser site, Kelion says that the game should be coming out in time for Christmas this year.

The game is scheduled for a Holidays 2008 release - barring the coming of the four horsemen of the apocalypse, you should be playing Banjo 3 before the end of the year (providing you buy the game, that is).

I really wouldn't base your ultimate judgments of the final Banjo model from what you've glimpsed on the teaser site if I were you - all shall be revealed in due course, not that long to wait now...

New Banjo Kazooie site launches [NeoGAF via Eurogamer]

Microsoft has launched a new website for Rare's new entry in the Banjo-Kazooie saga, coming eventually to the Xbox 360. Simply a teaser site at the moment, the spinning puzzle piece in the middle of the site cycles between the words "Coming Soon" and a picture of Banjo in all his bearish glory. The website requires you download the Microsoft Silverlight plugin to view it, though currently you aren't really missing much if you don't. What you see up top there is what you get, for now at least.

Official Banjo-Kazooie Website [Microsoft via High Score TV]

Banjo Kazooie 3 "Won't Be A Traditional Platformer"

In the latest Scribes section at the official Rare web site, a Banjo Kazooie fan pesters the staff for details on the announced, but as yet unseen, Banjo Threeie hoping for a 3D platforming adventure to carry the torch. Rare may have dashed his hopes, as the word from on high says that "Banjo won't be a shooter [...] but it also won't be a traditional platformer."

They didn't elaborate much on what the next Banjo's "different take on the genre" but it sounds like the team at Rare is trying something new. On the multiplayer front, the Scribes columnist writes "We aren't in the business of crushing little boys' dreams so your multiplayer hopes will be answered. The 'new direction' that Banjo is taking should offer a multiplayer experience unique to anything currently available."

Yeah, yeah, how about showing the thing already? Can we agree that GDC is a good time? I'll take your silence as confirmation, Rare.

Scribes - February 13, 2008 [Rare]

The lads at Rare seem to be taking the piss (am I doing it right?) in their new Christmas card, which not only features Viva Piñata stars Hudson Horstachio and Fergy Fudgehog alongside Banjo and Kazooie, but a teaser stocking that reads "KI3." Clearly, it's in reference to the Rare fighting game series Killer Instinct which hasn't seen a release since Killer Instinct Gold hit the Nintendo 64 over ten years ago.

Are Rare hard at work on a third combo-filled fighting game? Not according to them, at least, as of this summer, when Rare responded via its Scribes letters page "Purely out of contractual obligation, no, we're not working on KI3." Despite that dismissal, I'm pretty sure I can make out Cinder in the fire there. Of course, I'm just teasing (as I'm fairly sure Rare is, too).

New Banjo-Kazooie pic for Christmas [CVG]